As we view the world around us, we are compelled to observe
the manifold evidences of that universal fermentation which, in every continent
of the globe and in every department of human life, be it religious, social,
economic or political, is purging and reshaping humanity in anticipation of the
Day when the wholeness of the human race will have been recognized and its
unity established. A twofold process, however, can be distinguished, each
tending, in its own way and with an accelerated momentum, to bring to a climax
the forces that are transforming the face of our planet. The first is
essentially an integrating process, while the second is fundamentally
disruptive. The former, as it steadily evolves, unfolds a System which may well
serve as a pattern for that world polity towards which a strangely-disordered
world is continually advancing; while the latter, as its disintegrating
influence deepens, tends to tear down, with increasing violence, the antiquated
barriers that seek to block humanity's progress towards its destined goal. The
constructive process stands associated with the nascent Faith of Bahá'u'lláh,
and is the harbinger of the New World Order that Faith must erelong establish.
The destructive forces that characterize the other should be identified with a
civilization that has refused to answer to the expectation of a new age, and is
consequently falling into chaos and decline.
- Shoghi Effendi (‘The Unfoldment
of World Civilization’, 11 March 1936, ‘The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh:
Selected Letters’; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. II, The Significance
of the Formative Age of Our Faith)
